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After finding a young runaway murdered and thrown in a trash bin, the Major Crimes unit is led on a long, puzzling hunt to find the deceased girl's killer and her identity. Meanwhile Raydor consults her husband (guest star Tom Berenger) about a big proposition she has for Rusty.
The Victim[]
- Alice Herrera
- Young homeless girl no more than fifteen years old.
- Real name unknown.
- Drowned in a pool at the house she worked at and then dumped in a trash can.
- House was robbed at the same time.
- Lived in a Las Vegas homeless shelter under the name of Jesse until visited by an unknown man.
- Wanted to go to beauty school.
- Bears scars of physical abuse.
The Suspects[]
- Thad Cass
- Son of the owner of the house where Alice worked and was killed.
- Had a video on his phone of him harassing Alice.
- Went to Las Vegas University near where Alice briefly lived in a homeless shelter and Bug's accomplice wore an LVU jacket.
- Justine "Bug" Pinkman
- Homeless girl who lived in the same encampment as Alice.
- Has a drug problem.
- Caught selling stolen items to a pawn shop.
- Witnessed Alice's murder.
- Shot by Slider during arrest but only lightly wounded.
- Slider
- Young homeless man who gave Alice a ride to work.
- Robbed the house where Alice worked and drowned her when she tried to stop him.
- Attempted to murder Bug after she was caught.
- Shows no remorse for his actions.
Evidence[]
- Salt water in Alice's lungs.
- Items stolen from Joanna Cass' house, particularly Thad's stolen LVU jacket.
- Alice's stolen haircutting kit.
- Bug's thumbprint.
- Testimony from Bug.
- Slider's gun and the bullets recovered from Bug.
Closing the Case[]
Checking security footage from pawn shops near where Alice lived, Buzz finds a video of Bug, a junkie who lived in the same homeless camp as Alice pawning some of the things stolen from the Cass house with a man in an LVU jacket. Unable to find Bug, Flynn has Sykes call the pawn shop owner to tell him that if Bug contacts him again, to claim he has a buyer for the TV and will split the money with her if she gives him the pawn slip.
At the same time, Tao gets an email from the director of a homeless shelter in Henderson, Nevada who recognizes Alice and offers to talk to them anytime they want. The woman tells them that she knows Alice as Jesse and only knows that Alice originally came from "somewhere back East", had a talent for haircutting and fled the day after a man visited looking for her. However, the director never saw the man herself and the person who told her about him is long gone.
Sykes reports that the pawn shop owner called to inform them that Bug was coming in. The squad stakes it out and catches Bug getting the money. As they try to arrest her, Bug flees into the street where a man shoots at her from a passing car, hitting her twice. As the man flees, Julio shoots after him and Tao takes down his license plate number. As he fired his weapon, Julio is forced to turn in his gun while Bug's injuries prove to be minor.
The squad are unable to track down the shooter through his license plate number as it was stolen and question Bug who they identify as Justine Pinkman using her fingerprints. Examining the stolen items retrieved from the pawn shop, Raydor notices one item is a professional haircutting kit like the one that Joanna Cass told them she'd bought Alice. They realize that Bug could've only gotten it from Alice's tent and it means that Bug knew Alice wasn't coming back for it. Julio and Sykes question Bug who tells them that Slider had tried to kill her and explains that Slider had arrived around the same time as Alice did and claimed to be her cousin. When Julio and Sykes point out the significance of Bug pawning Alice's kit, Bug tells them that Slider killed Alice. Bug explains that she hung out with Slider as he had a car and on the day of the murder, the two of them gave Alice a ride to work. When they got there, Joanna wasn't home so Slider got Alice to let them in so they could look around. Slider wanted to rob the house, but Alice wouldn't let him so he chased her outside where she fell by the pool. Bug didn't watch the actual murder, but witnessed Slider load Alice's body into the trunk of his car before they stole what they could from the house and left. Upon prompting from Sykes, Bug tells them the location where Slider lives in his car so they can arrest him. At the parking garage where Slider parks, they are able to locate Slider's car with Slider sleeping in the front seat. Needing Slider alive as he's the only one they know of who could possibly identify Alice, Tao, Flynn and Sykes shoot out Slider's windows with bean bag guns, grab his own gun while he's stunned and arrest him.
In interrogation, Slider tells them they can't prove anything, but Provenza informs Slider that the LVU jacket he's wearing was stolen from the Cass house where Alice was murdered and will have Thad Cass' DNA all over it. They are also having ballistics check Slider's gun and they will match it to the bullets Slider shot Bug with. Provenza lies that Bug is dead but that she told them that Slider drowned Alice before dying. Provenza gives Slider an out by suggesting that Slider fired at the police and hit Bug by accident, a story Slider goes with. Provenza offers to help with Alice's murder too if he explains things so Slider does: when he gave Alice a ride to the Cass house, he wanted to rob it as the Cass family had a lot of everything. Slider had felt that Alice owed him for him giving her a ride, but she tried to stop him by calling the police. When he took the phone from her, she pulled out her own cell phone and he chased her outside where she tripped. Slider then rolled her into the pool and destroyed her phone. Believing Alice would cause him trouble and feeling she owed him for the ride he gave her, Slider drowned her. Listening to Slider's story, DDA Hobbs orders the squad to get Slider a public defender and she will offer him a deal of second degree murder with a sentence of twenty years to life. Flynn is enraged as Slider killing Alice during a robbery while attempting to kill Bug later should be a first degree murder charge, Hobbs tells him the defense will claim that Slider told the police what they wanted to hear with his interview proving it and she won't get a conviction. As a disgusted Flynn and Julio leave, Provenza questions Slider on what Bug told them about Alice and Slider being related. Slider admits he lied to Bug as Bug was jealous and thought Slider wanted to have sex with Alice which he tells Provenza he eventually would've. Raydor asks if Slider didn't come from Las Vegas with Alice which he confirms, stating that he's never even been to Vegas. Slider further admits to not knowing Alice's real name or where she comes from and tells them that Alice thought she was better than everyone and is now "just stuff you throw out with the trash." Slider shows no remorse for his crime, telling them that what happened to Alice is what happens to anyone who messes with him. Disgusted with Slider's lack of remorse, Hobbs changes her mind and tells Tao as he calls for a public defender for Slider to change the charge to murder in the first degree and add in the robbery and attempted murder of Bug. Hobbs now intends to offer a choice between life without parole and the death penalty as Slider needs to be put away. Tao reports this to the public defender's office and reluctantly labels Alice as a Jane Doe as they were never able to identify her.
Slider refuses his deal so the case will go to trial which Raydor sees as a positive thing, hoping that the trial will help reveal Alice's identity. Tao sends a video of Alice from Thad Cass' phone to a UCLA linguist who identifies Alice's accent as Virginia Piedmont which includes Southern Maryland, fitting with Bug telling them Alice came from an M state. Unable to learn more and upset that Alice will be left as a Jane Doe, Flynn organizes a small memorial service for Alice attended by the squad, DDA Hobbs and Doctor Morales.
Guest Cast[]
Recurring[]
Locations[]
Episode Notes[]
- Following this episode, the squad keeps Alice's picture on the murder board to remember her and in hopes of someday identifying her. It remains there until “Hostage to Fortune” where its taken down after Alice is identified.
- Starting at the end of “A Rose Is a Rose” in season 4, Rusty starts his own investigation into Alice's identity which he documents as part of his Identity vlog. In “Hostage to Fortune”, Rusty is able to identify Alice as Mariana Wallace. Slider is later convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.
- Sharon approaches her husband with the idea of adopting Rusty, telling him that he either has to agree to the adoption or she will divorce him. Jack attempts to extort her for money over the situation and then tells Rusty behind her back, making Sharon determined to divorce him no matter what. After seeing how he could've ended up like Alice, Rusty decides to consider the adoption. Sharon is later shown to have divorced Jack in “Down the Drain” and adopts Rusty at the end of the same episode.
- The episode's title of Jane Doe #38 refers to Alice Herrera, the victim who is labeled Jane Doe #38 as shown with the case file Sharon Raydor looks at at the end of the episode after they are unable to identify her.